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Beggars can’t be choosers

Whenever I hear the quote “Beggars can’t be choosers”, I take it to mean that those of us in a poor position can’t always choose what we want. This is probably what the quote literally means and what is meant when someone says it. I know that when I’ve said it, this is the meaning I want to convey. We can’t all be masters of our own destiny.

But what if the true meaning is that if we choose the role of beggar, then we can never assume the role of chooser. That the choice to become a chooser is for us to make. Being the beggar is not a position we’ve been put in, but a position we’ve either consciously or unconsciously chosen to take. We all take many of our day to day situations as being out of our control, but really how many of them really are? We all have the ability to choose, we just may not all have the capacity to do it.